Three Poles: the Arctic, Artarctic, and Himalayas connection: normative economic concepts for Alaska.

• Author: Huettmann, Falk
• Position: COMMENTARY

The views expressed herein are the authors' own and not those of the University of Alaska.

"The real voyage of discovery does not consist in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."

--Marcel Proust

The Arctic, the Antarctic, and the Hindu Kush-Himalayas/Tibetan Plateau form a vortex of remote terrains consisting of rock, snow, glaciers, low temperatures, and ice. The icy deserts and vast wilderness of this trio of poles are similar in that they have a profound impact on the earth's climate as they act as cooling chambers; are home to several unique species such as the Arctic polar bear, the Himalayan snow leopard, and the Antarctic emperor penguin; face similar ecological challenges; shelter the planet's primary water and ice resources impacting oceans, coastlines, and water-tables; and are fragile, specialized ecosystems. While the Arctic is an ocean basin surrounded by continents, the Antarctic is a continent surrounded by ocean, and the Himalayas comprise the highest and youngest mountain belt. Above fifteen thousand feet altitude, the conditions in the sub-nival Himalayas resemble the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions. Microbial biomass levels in the dry areas of the Himalayas are as low as those of the Dry Valleys of the Antarctic, and they both contain the same one of the dominant algal clades. Although at first glance the regions differ the time has come to view the three poles holistically as they also demonstrate remarkable similarities of microbial life in their arid soils.

Oil and gas explorations across Alaska, Russia, Greenland, and Norway involve similar challenges, business concepts, and often the same companies--Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Exxon Mobil, Schlumberger. The geopolitical relevance of the Arctic is overwhelmingly economic in nature with around 22 percent of the earth's remaining supplies of oil and gas. The Antarctic is a valuable region for research, and the Himalayas regions have significant political and military relevance. Moreover, the workforce skill sets required in cold, remote, and field science environments are similar for all three poles. For example, many workers move between work at Toolik Lake in the Arctic and the Antarctic depending on the season; scientists working in the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic are regularly hired in New Zealand or Australia to work in the Antarctic. Another example of the interconnectedness of the poles is the impact of the Asian brown cloud on Alaska's air...